


at least as deep as the pacific ocean (i wanna be yours)

by writtensoul



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, harry is a human sailor, louis is a merman prince, tada!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 06:25:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtensoul/pseuds/writtensoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>louis is the very entitled prince of the seven seas!! harry is a goofy sailor boy!!! a lot of hijinks ensue involving slippery mermaid tails and happy fun little sea creatures!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	at least as deep as the pacific ocean (i wanna be yours)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Destiny](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Destiny).



> this is of course for destiny again because i love her. i had so much fun writing this even though it was a little hard trying to figure my way around mermaid anatomy!!! anyway i hope you enjoy this!!
> 
> ALSO CHECK THESE BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGS OUT!!!! http://stylinist.tumblr.com/post/63520629847/oh-look-its-a-poorly-drawn-prince-merman-louis-4-u AND http://stylinist.tumblr.com/post/63582990060/this-was-all-going-very-well-until-i-remembered

"Mm, my dear Fabio, in fact I have _not_ heard the new Britney song, but I have heard the new Kings of Leon. A speedboat was playing it, so I had to swim rather fast to hear it, but you know. I am the fastest merman in all the seas."

Fabio scuttles along their rock and crick-cracks his claws as assent. Fabio is a great friend, however silent as he is. He's a lovely listener.

"Anyway," Louis hums, lifting his shell full of lavender coral scent, "I can hear a boat coming. Shall we see if the inhabiters are cute and give them a show, or go back to the palace?"  

Once again, Fabio claps his claws. Louis takes this as a yes to the first suggestion.

Minutes later a boat shows on the horizon, and steadily chugs along. Louis recognizes it as a fisherman's boat and scowls. He's lost many-a fish friend to these types of guys. Just as he's about to dive back into the water, he catches sight of something spectacular: a really cute boy. Perhaps Louis can excuse his morals for a moment.

"What's that on that rock over there?" somebody calls. Louis ruffles his hair and smoothes down his silver scales.

"Just everything you've ever dreamed and hoped for!" Louis calls in his best sultry, siren-y, sexy voice. "And Fabio!" he adds after a small pinch from his little friend.

"I think somebody is stranded," the cute one says; he has a large amount of hair on the sides of his head, smushed down by his hat.

Louis' gils bristle, however cute this boy is. Louis does not like when people assume he is stranded. He's the bravest, most capable merman ever. Besides Daddy.

He raises his nose to the air and lets out a sound, one that will get Zayn over here - and will also either lure the boat over or send them sailing far away. Louis has encountered both reactions loads of times. He doesn't really like when they leave. Old captains know that mermaids and mermen exist; they just have the wrong idea. They always talk about how the sea people kill all their men when their boats capsize, even though it's the captain's fault. Louis learned all this from his leg-clad sailor friend, Niall.

"Dude, did you hear that? ...D'you think we should get closer?"

Louis giggles and pets down his scales once more. Their boat comes closer after a few minutes - Louis sees that the captain is young and obviously doesn't own the horrible misconception that Louis will drag them all down to their watery deaths.

"Hello, boys," Louis coos when they're close enough. He flashes his prettiest smile and then flicks Fabio into the water. Louis can be a good friend when he wants, but not when cute boys are on the line. Mm, boys.

"I, uh. Hey," one calls back; a boy with short-cropped hair and a rope in his hand. "Uh. You, uh. Tail?"

Louis flips it upward and causes a little splash. "Mm-hm. You like it? I'm the only boy in the whole kingdom with a silver tail. It's impressive," he continues when they all just gape at him. They have pretty mouths, Louis must admit, but Louis has got to have more to work with than this.

"Storm's coming!" another voice calls - the captain.  Louis feels instant annoyance toward the guy. He wants them to stay and play.

"He's just a freak with a costume, Harry, come on," Short-Cropped Hair shrugs. He nudges Big Hair and Big Hair shivers and heads back to get the boat ready for the storm. Louis had felt the storm coming ages ago, but he remembers that lowly humans don't have the ability to feel such anticipation in their tailless bodies. Poor things.

Zayn splashes up from the surface of the water just as the boat is sailing off in the other direction. "Y'alright?" he asks immediately, gils contracting and extracting on his neck.

"You missed a boat full of clueless, although cute, sailor boys. Or rather they were fishermen. They were the ones that killed Sherwin's family, probably," says Louis sadly. "They were so cute though."

Zayn shakes his head with a smile. "Let's go. Where's Fabio? I could've sworn you brought him with you."

Louis giggles. After he places his crown back on, they swim back home, shell full of lavender scent forgotten.

\--

Fabio returns days later, angry at Louis but not surprised. Louis has pulled such rude stunts before; worse, even. It's all in good fun though.

"The king found another one," Fabio says once he's back to being friends with Louis. His tiny little eyes uncased with red shell blink a few times.

"Huh. Where are these dumbass humans getting this shit, then? Selling them in mass amounts? When will they realize that mermaids are meant to be mermaids and humans are meant to be humans? They need to lay back." Louis runs a hand through his hair and huffs. He's so annoyed at all these impostors. Humans keep on drinking this _magical position_ that turns their legs to sea tails, and then they flop their way into Daddy's water and pretend as if they belong.

They are very easy to find, however.

Louis only has to swim outside his palace and look around a bit until he spots a wannabe merperson. Every single one of them are hopeless at using their tail properly, so they look like a new born merbaby and they flail about and knock into everything. And that's just the first thing.

They try to breathe with their lungs, secondly. Since the only part that has changed with the potion is their legs, and the fact that they grow gils, they don't know how to live underwater. Using your gils is far different than using lungs. It's an entirely different function and most humans die in the first few minutes of becoming mermaids just because they can't breathe. Daddy had to start paying mermen to clean up all the dead bodies. Though the humans are stupid, it still upsets Louis.

"What are you thinking about?" Fabio asks.

"Boys," Louis lies.

"Typical. But anyway, the king needs you. Wants your help, he said." Fabio begins to eat algae off the walls, so Louis knows it's undebatable whether he obey or not.

Angelica and Destiny and Sky all wave at him on his swim over to the palace center. A few turtles and dolphins wave, too, so Louis feels rather happy when he arrives at the common and spots Dad lounging in his seat.

"Daddy," Louis greets. Servants come immediately to offer Louis kelp and such things, but Louis waves it off. He much prefers the secret imports he gets (chocolate bars and marshmallows).  

"Will you do a big favour for me? If you do, I won't tell your mother about your secret imports from above."

Okay, maybe they aren't so secret.

"That's blackmail, Daddy. I need my marshmallows. Have you _tried_ them? They taste like little pieces of clouds."

Dad rolls his eyes and brings a servant over with a flick of his trident. "Just lend your old man a hand. I think you'll enjoy what I have in mind. It involves scaring the bejesus out of an impostor."

Louis raises his eyebrows and swims closer. "Scaring the bejesus, you say? Do continue."

Dad explains. Apparently his guards had found a human who'd figured out how to breathe, just not swim, and he wanted Louis to do his best to threaten and scare the person so that when they were let free, they would spread the news that humans were not welcome in the mermaid kingdom.

Louis is practically giddy with excitement.

They bring in the person after Louis has taken his second-man seat beside Dad and been fed two marshmallows. It turns out Louis knows this person: it is the cute boy who was on the fisherman's boat - the one who had his hair squished down by his hat. Now, his hair is flowing behind him like a trail of chocolate swirls. Louis' tummy flutters and he tries to convince himself that it's with annoyance, not attraction. This boy in front of him is stupid, he reminds himself.

"I'm Masious Tomlinson, Protector and Commander of the Seven Seas," Dad announces in his Supreme and Important voice.

"And I'm Louis!" Louis chirps. After a stern look from father, he shakes his head. "I mean, I'm Louis, son of the Protector and Commander of the blah blah blah," he says in a deeper, more important voice. He giggles at the end, though. This majestic-haired boy is messing him right up.

"...Right," Daddy says shortly, clearly not impressed with Louis. "Let's get to it: You are not welcome here. And you need to leave."

Louis watches the boy's eyes widen. He's already pale as can be, and with the cool water on his skin and this new fear set into his bones, he looks nearly ghostly. Big Hair's mouth opens and then shuts, coughing profusely. He obviously hasn't mastered breathing yet, but also hasn't keeled over, so.

"I'm - I'm sorry," he sputters. "I didn't know, um. That I wasn't allowed to be here." When the two guards let go of him, he fights to stay stationary in the water, but his top half begins to float downward so the guards hold onto him again, hands firm around his biceps. Louis is jealous.

"His boat is the one that trapped and murdered Sherwin's family," Louis says helpfully. As adorable as Big Hair is, Louis is loyal to Dad.

Like a lightning bolt - and in fact _with_ a lightning bolt from his trident - Daddy is out of his chair and clutching at Big Hair's tattered white shirt. "You belong to Grimshaw's fishing company?"

Louis titters into his palms. He feels a little evil for laughing at dad's rage on this poor, dumb, cute boy, but he can't help it. He'll show his superiority to anyone whenever he can _because_ he can.

Big Hair gulps. "I? No?"

"He's lying!" Louis shouts, and then sinks into his chair in shame. His morals are slowly morphing. Should he defend Big Hair, or Daddy? God knows.

"What's your name, human?" Daddy spits.

"Erm. Uh - "

"What is it?" Louis squeals, impatient. He would like to stop calling Big Hair that, now.

"Harry. Styles. Harry Styles."

Louis swoons. What a handsome name. "Daddy? Will you let me take him to my room? I could discipline him better there. I promise." He blinks over at Dad, trying to project innocence and determinedness into his eyes all at once.

Dad thinks for a moment. "Just don't harm him physically," he relents.

Multitudes of ideas flutter into Louis' mind. For now, though, he must keep up his act. "Come now, you petulant imbecile. You are flailing around like a god damn idiot. You're going to break your impostor tail on a coral reef," he hisses loud enough for others to hear as he leads Harry out of the common. Mermaids and mermen and fish of all kinds stare on as they go.

Louis takes the long way back to his room just so he can watch Harry fail at swimming. It's just so cute.

"If you making me swim on my own is my punishment, I beg for mercy. This is so difficult," Harry pouts, looking genuinely upset at himself.

"You shouldn't have taken that potion, then," Louis hums, swimming far ahead and leaving Harry to fend for himself. "Just come on already. Kay?" Louis propels himself off a coral and waves himself through a patch of seaweed; when he looks back Harry is bumping right into a dolphin. Ugh.

"God, I'm so sorry, I'm - I can't even buy you a coffee, can I? No underwater Starbucks-"

"Harry. Come _on,_ before I give you a tailslap. To the face."

Harry just keeps on chattering to the wide-eyed dolphin. "Listen, if there's something I can ever do for you..."

Louis sighs and begins to pick at his silver nails while he waits for Harry to finish his one-sided conversation. He feels too bad for Harry to tell him that dolphins, in fact, do not speak English. When Louis and the dolphin share a look, Louis chuckles. Louis knows dolphin, because he is the son of the ruler of all the seas, but Harry definitely does not.

After minute, Harry's finished his apologies with the dolphin and then they're off.  Harry flails his way around, jerking like he's being poked with sharp seashells, and Louis gives up. "You're a useless merbaby," he sighs, reaching a hand out for Harry to hold. Harry tentatively slides his hand in Louis' - Louis sighs giddily and disguises it with a fake cough - and then Louis begins to swim, Harry floating awkwardly behind him.

They arrive at Louis' room in less time than it took to get down the hall from the common.

"So, er... How are you going to punish me?" Harry asks, leaning heavily against Louis' door.

Louis rolls his eyes and swishes his tail to create bubbles and entertain the shrimp he knows are behind him. "I'm not, don't worry. I just kind of wanted to...talk?"

"Hey. You're the person who was on the rock last week. You made Liam freak right out, though he said he wanted to, uh... Never mind."  

"Did he want to kiss me?" Louis giggles. He loves to kiss. He'll kiss anybody. Even Fabio sometimes, just little pecks to his red shell back.

"Something like that," Harry mutters. Louis doesn't have time to ask what that means before Harry says, "So what are we going to do? Don't suppose you have an Xbox. Or even a TV."

"I've only seen one human being up close once. Do you mind if I, like, check you out?" Louis asks quietly. It's true. He has only ever seen Niall up close and while he was cute, Harry is smoking hot. Louis wants to scope every piece of him out. He knows Harry technically is a merman now, but he'll still have a few human features.

"Go right ahead. As long as I can do the same?"

Louis nods. He flutters over to Harry and instantly rips his shirt away; it floats away like a plastic bag that suffocates many tiny animals and that makes Louis sad so he grabs at it and tucks it in a drawer.

His hands go to Harry's chest, first. He's got one of those himself, but now that he's made an excuse to touch he's going to take advantage.

Harry's skin is a lot more rough compared to Louis' own. There's fuzzy hair over his chest and tummy and below his belly button; especially on his head, as well. There's a tiny scar on his collarbone that Louis thumbs over a few times. He slides his hands up, curving inward to the angle of Harry's neck, and his fingers brush over Harry's blue gils. "How'd you figure out how to use those, hm?" he whispers.

"I almost didn't," Harry admits. "But a - a merman came up to me when I was choking and told me how to concentrate and use them."

"You're not very good at it." Louis grins and moves his fingers higher, drawing along the cut of Harry's jaw and then petting up his cheeks. He ignores Harry's choking when the dumbo accidentally takes a breath with his lungs. "Your green tail is very pretty, I must admit, but mine is prettier. It's silver, see? The only - "

"The only silver tail in the kingdom, I know. You told me when you were lounging on that rock." Harry's cheeks manage to create a pink flush.

Louis leans forward and smooches Harry right on the lips.

Harry sputters and his gils flutter under Louis' fingers when he moves them down to remind Harry to not use his lungs, and then he smooches Harry again. "You have the best kissing lips in all the world. Did you know that?"

Harry's hands come to wrap around Louis' waist. "You, too," he murmurs. moving back in for a kiss. Louis is shocked - this type of kissing is reserved for married merpeople, usually. Being so close and kissing for longer. Louis enjoys it, however.  

That is, until Harry sticks his tongue out.

"Gah! What are you doing, are you trying to get me _pregnant?"_ Louis shoves Harry away and whooshes backwards; bubbles follow him and abstract his vision for a moment, and then they clear. Harry is gobsmacked. Then he snorts.

"Funny. Now let me kiss you, please? You're so pretty - "

Though Louis soaks up compliments like sunshine as he tans on a rock, he cuts Harry short with, "No. I don't trust you - I'm not ready for a merbaby! Besides, I need to keep this body in shape."

Harry's silent, and then, "Oh, God. You're not kidding. You did take sex ed, didn't you? But wait, where's our..."

"Our what?"

"Our dicks!"

Louis scrunches up his nose in thought. "I just don't know what that is. Stop confusing me. Go away, I'm busy now." He waves Harry away and plans to gossip with Fabio about Harry's devious impregnanting plans.

Harry huffs and clearly goes to make a dramatic exit, but his momentum causes him to flip forward and suspend himself upside down.  If there's one flaw in the make-up of merpeople, it's that their tails are full of oxygen and easily flip them upside down. That's why Louis and all other merpeople have such strong upper bodies; they have to work against flipping over like silly Harry.

Louis lets Harry float upside down for a few moments until it just gets to be pathetic, and then quickly flips Harry back the right way and pushes. "Find Zayn, he'll take care of you," he calls, and then swims back into his room. He has important business to attend to.

He has to go through his mirror stash and be vain for a little while.

\--

Dad knocks on the door a few hours later when Louis is floating amongst his hand mirrors. He swims in without permission.

"Daddy, I'm _busy,"_ Louis scoffs. He pets his hair down in the front, and watches sadly when it floats back upward. Having stellar hair is so hard.

"Did you lose that boy? Where the hell is he?" Dad begins to look around Louis' room, like he's hidden Harry.

Louis raises an eyebrow, watching his face in the mirror. "He's swimming with the fishes, now," he says darkly, and then cackles at himself. He's so funny.

"Above-water humor is not what I'm looking for, Louis William. Where is he."

"Ugh, he's with Zayn, Daddy. Zayn's um... He's doing Phase Two of Scare the Bejesus Out of the Landlover. Are you proud of me?" Louis pokes at his lips; he can't believe he was smooching Harry just a little while ago. Oh, Harry's lips do something funny to his tummy.

"The only reason I'm not going over to check on him is because my kingdom needs me to attend to some meetings in the north. I want him gone, Louis, alright? The second I get back in three days. Gone." Dad does a dramatic exit as well. Louis rolls his eyes.

"Scram before I sell you to the humans and you become _popcorn_ shrimp," he tells the shrimp spying on him through his portal window. The little shrimp giggle and Louis giggles back, so the shrimp wiggle their way over and Louis kisses each of their backs before waving them away for real. He loves his world underwater, and he loves who he lives with, but sometimes he needs to be totally alone; prawns and shrimp excluded.

He thinks for a while. He doesn't really want Harry gone. Harry's pretty and really goofy, and, well.

Louis is intrigued.

 

\--

 

The next day Louis swims to Zayn's and finds Harry, asleep, floating close to the ceiling.

"Zayn?" Louis calls. "Is there a reason Harry's on the roof?"

Nobody answers; Louis paddles off to the kitchen to make himself a snack of chocolate chips and seaweed. It makes him feel a _little_ healthy.

He hears a snuffle and then a choking sound from the living room so he pokes his head around the corner and spots Harry writhing and jerking mid-water. Without much thought, he quickly swims up to Harry and slaps his cheek multiple times, and then skims his fingers over Harry's gils.

"Use these," he whispers forcefully to Harry's semi-conscious body - it seems to work because the choking eases up and Harry shudders awake.

"Where'm I?" he slurs, then chokes a little more.

"In the humble home of Zayn Malik, a true noble merman," Louis chirps happily. "And you're in the presence of Prince Louis Tomlinson, an even humbler and nobler merman. So bow down, bitch."

Harry's apparently sleepy enough so obey; his top half bows downward and then bobs upward. Ha. Louis enjoys it.

He tugs Harry back to the floor and watches the strange boy wake. His cheeks are a tiny bit red and the rest of him is just glaringly pale; aside from his curly majestic hair and pink lips and dark eyebrows. He also has a little bit of brown hair below his belly button, but Louis chooses to ignore that because it makes him feel squirmy.

"He wouldn't accept swimming lessons from me," comes Zayn's unimpressed voice.

Louis frowns in confusion and then stares at Harry some more, expecting an explanation. While he waits, he crosses his eyes and sticks his tongue out. Harry giggles.

"I wanted to learn from you," Harry says quietly. "I came here for you, after all. You just looked really magnificent -"

Louis interrupts with, "My beauty put aside, you what? You came here for me? Huh?" He hears Zayn fake retching and the front door swish swish shut but is all too very distracted by the fact that the reason Harry took the potion was for _him._

"You had a _tail,_ Louis. You're a mermaid -"

"Merman."

"- and you looked _so...magical._ I spoke to my friend when we docked, and I told him about you, and, well. He told me he had this thing. This potion. That could make me a mer _man_ too. So I took it." Harry bites down on his bottom lip and proceeds to look very precious and alluring.

Louis coughs. "While this is all very adorable," he begins, definitely planning to tell Harry he has to leave in two days and also that the potion definitely wears off eventually, "we have some swim classes to begin." Oh. Not really what he meant to say, but things can be said later. "Just let me go round up Petunia and Shelly."

Louis swims a few minutes across the kingdom to the dolphin den and screams out Petunia and Shelly's names until they come swimming out. They attack Louis with hugs and nuzzles from their noses, and Louis dutifully kisses their silky backs and strokes their mighty fins. When he tells them he needs them for their magnificent bubble-blowing skills, they squeak and go to either side of him, and all three use their flippers to speed through the water. Dolphins love to help; it's in their nature.

Louis grabs Harry and Petunia has Harry hold onto her fin, and then the four of them find a secluded area just outside the kingdom to practice.

"Just so you ladies know, Harry is kind of a secret here, so don't go blabbing your silly mouths to anyone, alright?" he remembers to tell them.

"We wouldn't," they promise.

Harry is gawking very impolitely. "You understand them?" he asks incredulously.

"Of course I do, I'm the prince of all the seven seas. I understand interspecies languages." Louis waves his hand. "Let's get to it."

They practice for hours. First they go over the basics again, and then Petunia and Shelly blow big bubbles for Harry to swim through. Louis swims through them too, because he's very good at it and he loves to show off. He especially loves it when people compliment him on his swimming, which Petunia and Shelly and Harry do, adamantly.

Harry does a very good job. Every time he makes it through a series of bubbles in record time, Louis rewards him with a rub to his tail and a kiss to his lips. (He's over Harry trying to impregnate him earlier.)

"I don't suppose there are underwater bananas, are there?" Harry asks on the swim back. He says it like a joke and Louis raises his eyebrow.

"Of course there are. Are there above water bananas?" Louis leads them over to the banana patch a few metres to the left behind a giant shipwreck. He reaches down and plucks a banana from the sea floor and thrusts it toward Harry, who is very clearly in some kind of banana-related shock.

He shakes himself out of it and flies toward Louis, wrapping his gangly arms around Louis' waist and kissing him so soundly and so thoroughly (without tongue).  

"Bananas surely get you in the mood for smoochin'," Louis breathes, his tail curling from how _good_ Harry's lips feel on him. Harry moves down and kisses lightly over his gils, and then lower to his collarbones while his hands glide up and down Louis' back. Louis can tell Harry's very intrigued with how much different their skin is; all day Harry was just touching wherever he could, not that Louis minded. He liked to feel the pads of Harry's rough-feeling fingers on him. And he really likes it now.

"I just wish there was a way we could - could - but. _Tails,"_ Harry groans pitifully, pushing their hips together for some strange reason. Louis must admit, though, he does like the feeling of their scales rubbing together. "Where did my dick go?"

Louis tuts. "Now, now, dear. No more of that confusing 'dick' talk. Time for a little relaxing after a hard days' work."

Harry relents and they swim back to Louis' for dinner and a quick chat with Mum, who takes very kindly to Harry but agrees that he should go home soon. (Louis still has not told Harry /how/ soon that will be.)

That night, Louis sees one of his scales has transformed into a sparkle scale. He chooses to ignore it.

 

\--

 

"Louis, he goes home _today._ "

Louis shrieks, takes hold of a shrimp swimming by, and flings it at Zayn. The shrimp just soars through the water giggling, and then lightly bumps into Zayn's stomach. Ugh.

"I don't _want_ him to go! I, I - Zayn, I found," Louis looks around, sees nothing but distracted small shrimp, and whispers, "I found a _sparkle scale_ , Zayn. Look." He pushes his hip out and points at the little shiny scale.

Zayn gasps. "You have only known him for not even three days. How can you...?"

"I don't know! He's special."

Sparkle scales are reserved for merpeople who are in love. It starts small: you find random scales covered in glitter ( _just like Louis_ ) and then you find more and more until you have an entire tail covered in sparkles and you just _shine._ Zayn's tail sparkles for pretty Perrie and Perrie's sparkles for Zayn. It's quite romantic, but what Louis doesn't understand is why his own tail is beginning to grow sparkle scales after knowing Harry for such a short period of time.

"Who's special?" comes a drowsy, deep, covered-in-caramel-and-dipped-in-sprinkles voice. Harry's.

"You, darling," Louis coos (kind of sarcastically). "Come give me a kiss."

"'Kay," Harry blushes. He swims his way on over,  much better than two days ago, and holds on to Louis' waist. Their tails, as if on instinct, curl closer together.

"I saw Zayn's seaweed straps worked last night, as you weren't floating on the roof this morning," Louis murmurs into Harry's mouth after a couple pecks.

"I could have done without them," Harry's whispers proudly; then proceeding Zayn's scoff, "But thanks anyway, Zayn."

"Uh huh. Listen, Harry. We have to talk. You have to leave today."

Harry's face turns confused and sad all at once. "Why? I know the potion will wear off, did you want me to get more, or - "

"Because you can't just abandon your life up above, fool," Zayn cuts in. "If your family and friends think you're dead, and see your shredded apart pants on the shoreline, they're going to come looking in the sea for your body. And we don't need that kind of attention. Plus, the king is returning today and he'll shove you back on land regardless."

"...A more harsh delivery than I was going to go for, but. He's right. You don't... You don't belong down here, Harry. You're meant to have legs." Louis gently strokes up Harry's back until both his hands are clutching to Harry's shoulders; he doesn't - he doesn't _want_ Harry to leave. He _got a sparkle scale for Harry_.

"Not - no I'm not. I'm not supposed to do anything. I met you down here, I can't leave. If we could just talk to your dad - "

Zayn snorts and Louis smiles sadly. "My dad isn't a negotiable man. I can't take you from your life, Harry. You have to go."

Harry begins to cry. Louis can't see the tears, but he can see the bloodshot lines in Harry's eyes. After a look to Zayn, Zayn leaves them be. Harry curls himself around Louis and the fins at the end of their tails brush each other - Louis has never been so touchy with anyone before. It fills so nice. And now it will be gone.

When Louis swims Harry to the surface, Harry isn't crying but he's shivering from emotion and kissing Louis as much as he can. It takes a while to swim toward the port that Grimshaw's fishing company owns (mostly because Louis had swum as slow as he could). They do get there, however, and they part with a hug and a long, long kiss, and then Harry rips away and swims fast and hard toward the shore.

Through the flurry of bubbles, Louis can swear he saw something sparkling on Harry's tail. But maybe it was just the light.

 

\--

 

Louis spends the next few days singing sorrowful songs to Fabio and whoever else will listen. It feels like an entire lifetime since Louis last spoke to Fabio, and he is too sad to tell Fabio exactly why he is so sad.

After a week the sparkle scales fades to grey and flakes off. Louis reckons his heart will do the same, soon.

 

\--

 

"Your sparkle scale is missing."

"I know. I still - I care very much a lot about Harry still."

"I know that. Did it turn grey before it went away?"

"Uh huh."

"That means you're going through heartache."

"I know."

 

\--

 

Louis has had enough.

At dinner, Dad had announced that the last reported impostor had been from a week ago. "Rumour has it that the dumb boy you dealt with, Louis, has told everyone that down here there is only horrors and terrible things. It's better than humans coming down here and polluting our water with dead bodies."

Mum had given Louis a sympathetic look. Dad had shrugged at Louis' sound of frustration. Louis had thrown his plate of kelp across the table and rushed out of the room.

He's on his way to the surface. After a quick check on the clock in his room, he had gathered that if he goes fast enough, he can catch Niall's boat in time. Niall always goes on nightly cruises around the sea - it's just his thing.

Louis bursts above water and scans the horizon. It's very dark, but Louis has very good eyes, and he spots a small boat about a mile off. He charges toward it, tail working twice as hard as it should, and he launches himself up out of the water fast enough to nearly land inside the boat. Instead, he latches onto the edge of the boat and finds Niall sitting in the middle of it with a rolled up piece of paper in one hand and a hamburger in the other.

"Niall!" Louis shrieks.

"Louis!" Niall shrieks back; more of an imitation. Louis has no time for this.

"I need that stuff. That potion. The stuff that turns humans into merpeople. I need to see if it can work the opposite way."

Niall's eyes are very dilated and he takes far too long to reply. "S'in my bag - "

Louis lunges even further and toward the small orange pouch beside Niall's feet. He nearly tips himself into the boat again, but Niall helpfully shoves at Louis.

A small, clear vile lays at the bottom of the pouch. Louis carefully extracts it and holds it up to the moonlight. "Please," he whispers.

"Drink up, buttercup," Niall giggles.

Louis does drink up. He swigs it all down in one go, licks into the small opening to get as much as he can, and then floats stationary, waiting. He waits for a tingle in his tail or for his gils to shrivel up into nothing. He waits for _something,_ but nothing ever comes.

"It's not working. Niall, why isn't it working?" Louis sobs. He can feel tears streak down his face and wipes furiously at them. He doesn't cry. He's never needed to.

Niall is frowning, which he never does. "It's not meant for you, Lou. It's meant for humans. I'm sorry."

Louis shrieks out as loud as he possibly ever has. Niall falls off his perch and covers his ears, but Louis doesn't _care._ He was _counting_ on this.

He pushes past everyone on the way back to his room. He even swats at Petunia, who is on her nightly swim. He doesn't care.

The only way he can sleep is when he floats himself up toward the ceiling.

 

\--

 

Louis wakes up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe.

His hands dart up to his neck, and his mouth, for some reason, fills with air as if he has to hold it. On instinct, he goes to swim to find someone for help, but his tail is gone. All he has are two legs that are kicking wildly.

Two legs. _Legs._ Louis has legs.

A burst of excitement rushes through his body but he barely has any time to savor it - he is drowning. He is drowning underwater. As his hands are still holding his neck, he realizes belatedly that there are no gils underneath his fingertips. He is going to die.

Quick thinking has always been a prominent trait in Louis, so he tries to logically work his way through this. His first instinct is to grab a seaweed, so he does that, and then winds it around his upper legs and then grabs another and winds it around his lower legs. Are they called ankles? What about -

No time.

Louis keeps his legs glued together and shoves out of his room, and then makes a beeline toward the surface. There's hardly anyone around, and those who are around are not likely to help a human-looking Louis to the surface.

Louis works his legs and claws upward with his arms all while his lungs full up with water and lose oxygen. The surface seems so far away, so unreachable - and just as he spots a sea creature coming at him, he blacks out.

 

\--

 

There's a soothing sound of waves crashing. Occasionally there is a cry from some sort of bird, and a scuttle of maybe crab legs across - across sand?

Louis rolls over and hacks up copious amounts of water from his lungs. He keeps his eyes glued shut for fear that he's really dead and this is all a dream. But the sand digging into his skin is real, and the sun burning down on him is real, too. He dares to open his eyes.

There is sand _everywhere._ It's golden and littered with bits of shell and a few plastic bottles and - and _people._ Why didn't the people come and help Louis, who was clearly unconscious? Did they not assume that Louis was previously a merman and had to fight for his life to get to the surface lest he choke to death on his normally native means of breathing? Humans are so inconsiderate. Besides Harry.

_Harry._

"Harry!" Louis screams. Then he hears an insistent squeaking near his stomach. It is Fabio. "Fabio! What are you doing here?"

All he hears is squeaks.

"Fabio, I don't know what you're saying. I can't understand you." Sniffles rise in his nose. He doesn't like this - not one bit. "Fabio, I have to go find Harry. If you know what I'm saying, go tell Daddy that I won't be gone forever. I love you." He kisses Fabio on the back as he always does, and then gently pushes Fabio toward the sea. Fabio goes willingly.

Luckily enough, Louis sees a sign that says 'Grimshaw Fishing and Co.' Normally Louis would hiss and boo at the name, but Harry works there and even if he's not on a shift, Louis will be able to find where Harry is.

Louis stands up. And then he falls down. "Well, that's strange," he mutters to himself, and tries again. His legs shake and then give out underneath him. It takes him ten tries to just stand, and then another seventeen to walk his first step.

Eventfully he gets the hang of it, but he knows he must look like one of those miniature humans that are waddling around the normal sized humans.

Grimshaw Fishing and Co. is three miles to the right according to the sign, and Louis spots the port down the shoreline. He goes very slowly, lest he fall over for the hundredth time, but he makes it and then opens the main entrance door to the business.

The second he's inside, all eyes are on him. He very instantly worries if they know he's not like them - a god damn merman! - until one of them says, "Is there a reason you're standing starkers in my shop?"

Louis gasps and looks down. He, indeed, has only skin and no stupid 'clothes' that humans insist on wearing. There's also a strange thing between his thighs but he must regard that later.

"I, um. Could I get your clothes? Some clothes?" And then Louis trips over nothing and falls down.

"Serves you right for building a business and port just down the road from a street of pubs, Grimshaw," a tall man grumbles to himself as he speed-walks over to Louis' fallen figure. "Up you come, there's a lad," he grunts, helping Louis up. He slings an arm around Louis' waist and leads him to a back room. "You can keep these clothes if you help me with a job."

"What kind of job?" Louis asks, trying to direct his leg into one of the leg holes of this soft, grey-material pants that have been handed to him. "By the way, what's this thing called?" he questions, letting go of the pants for a moment to instead grab the strange thing between his legs. It feels weird when he grabs it; he gasps and scrunches his nose.

The man's face twists. "Are you hyped up on something other than alcohol? Are you on crystal meth? That's your fucking dick."

Ah. The mystical dick Harry kept talking about. "Oh, okay. So what job?"

"Ah, just a fishing one. If you're even capable, which judging by you not knowing your own anatomy - "

"Absolutely not! I will not help you murder my innocent fish friends for your dumb human gob!" Louis goes to make his loud siren noise, but all that comes out is a loud scream which maybe works just as well. He shoves his feet into the holes of his pants successfully and then pulls upward. He doesn't bother with the shirt because he's used to not wearing one, and then he attempts to run out of the room and the trips into someone.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to find - _Harry!"_ Louis shrieks, looking up to find none other than Harry himself. Harry looks so tired and awfully sad until his mind seemingly registers that he's got arms full of Louis, and then he breaks out into a beam.

"Louis, you - you have legs! Oh my god," Harry gasps. He picks Louis right up and squeezes him tight, and Louis has enough function in his legs to wrap them around Harry's waist. He feels nothing but happiness.

"Oh, my sweet Harry, I got legs for you," Louis coos at Harry. He leans forward and catches Harry's mouth in a hard kiss; their mouths work together and Harry even dares to bite Louis' bottom lip. Louis reaches up and pulls Harry's giant hair, and it feels so strange - dry, but he likes it.

"I can see it," Harry whispers. "I can feel it." His hands squeeze over the tops of Louis' legs and then move farther, till they're somewhere else.

"Is that my bum?" Louis asks very quietly. He remembers Niall saying that word before.

"That's your bum," Harry confirms.

"Is everyone fucking out of their mind today or something?" a man screams. It's the man who gave Louis his clothes. Louis giggles.

"Can we go to your home?" Louis asks.

Harry's answer is to take Louis to a boat on wheel and drive them home.

 

\--

 

Harry is very patient in letting Louis figure his human body out. He sits at the foot of his bed while Louis stands in front of a big mirror that's a little taller than him and pokes at bits of himself. Naked.

"These are my toes," he sings, touching them, bent over and looking at Harry between his legs. Harry's looking at his bum. "These are my...calves?"

"Um. Yes."

"Okay." Louis moves his hands higher. "These are my thighs." He grazes his fingertips over his dick because he remembers how much it felt weird to full on grab it earlier, but being gentle with it seems to effect him even more. "This is my dick. It's strange. Do all you humans have these?"

Harry chokes. "No. Nope, just some."

"Okay. This is my bum, which you keep staring at," Louis giggles, turning around and looking back to stare at it in the mirror. "I have to admit, it looks nice. Anyway, the rest of this body I already had. Want to snuggle?"

Harry's face finally shifts from his weird expression into a kind, more familiar one. "Of course I do. Come, come."

After one last look at his body in the mirror, Louis skips and trips onto Harry and knocks them backward onto the bed, his thighs bracketing Harry's hips.

"I can kiss you with tongue here and not get you pregnant," Harry says huskily. It does something to Louis -  like it did back home, but this time he feels his dick twitch. That might not be normal but Louis still likes the idea of using tongue for kissing.

They kiss for a long time. It feels so different, like something entirely new above water, and with using their whole mouth to kiss. Harry hands lightly move up and down Louis' back and then press harder as time goes on, and also move down further. As Louis is sucking on Harry's bottom lip, Harry's hands move completely down until they're just holding onto Louis' bum. It makes something strange come out of Louis' mouth; a moan.

"My - this is hard, Harry, why?" Louis asks self-consciously, reaching down and gently holding his dick. What if its broken? Maybe it's just a function that the thing does. Who knows, human bodies are strange. Except for Harry's. It's perfect.

Harry moans, too, and places his hand over Louis' on his dick. "It's because you like what we're doing, and - do you want to see what happens if I touch it? I don't want to take advantage but if you want it, I can." Harry looks so beautiful and intent on making sure whatever he does is okay with Louis, too, and Louis feels a flush tinge on his cheeks.

"That depends. Will it shoot out confetti? Because if it doesn't, I'm good." Louis truly does want Harry to show him what can be done, but he's nervous and resorting to jokes to conceal it. Apparently it's a very good joke, because Harry loses his mind laughing.

"Yeah, Lou, something like that," Harry agrees, and Louis is confused but he allows Harry to do what he's going to do.

Harry gently removes Louis' hand from his dick and then licks his own hand. He reaches down again, smiling up at Louis and leaning up for a quick kiss. Louis' thighs begin to tremble around Harry's hips in anticipation. One last kiss, and then Harry wraps his slightly wet hand around Louis' dick and tugs upward.

Instantly, Louis' back curves and he gasps, fingernails digging into Harry's chest. That felt - it felt _good._ So good. "Please, again," he begs.

Harry grins and repeats his hand motion, and then continues after at a steady pace while Louis shakes like a leaf and begins to make little noises he's never made before. They're strange but he can't stop them, and apparently Harry likes them because he groans, "Yeah, Louis, sound so pretty, you're _gorgeous."_

The words make the buildup in Louis' tummy grow faster and pool hotter. He never knew humans had the capability to feel something as wondrous as this.

"Ha-Harry - for the love of Merlin, that - oh, _God,"_ he babbles, his hips jerking subconsciously forward. He doesn't like that it seems like his body is doing whatever it pleases, but he understands why it is. This is unlike anything he's ever gone through before. "Can I - I want more of this, I want it everywhere, _Harry."_

Harry looks up into his eyes and speaks just through that. Louis understands that Harry is giving him everything he can without overwhelming him or startling him, but he still wants more. Harry moves his other hand to Louis' bum and he strokes it while his fist works up and down Louis' dick, grip changing from loose to tight and his pace ranging from sea-serpent fast to bottom-feeder slow. It's driving Louis mad.

Shockingly, Harry moves his hand that's on Louis bum to the middle of it and slides his fingers in between and brushes over a small hole there and Louis _loses it_. He cries out and feels the hole go taut and tight and his whole body shakes and before he knows it, a sharp spike of pleasure courses through him and then rolls in waves, coming from his dick and moving upward through his tummy and chest.

"Oh, Harry, _oh,"_ Louis whimpers, curling downward so he's closer to Harry and breathing the very same air. "I - _unhng."_

Harry keeps stroking at him until Louis is done _whatever the hell_ that amazing thing was. Only when Harry lets go and places his hand on Louis' back does Louis realizes that, in fact, something /has/ come out of his dick.

"What happened?" Louis asks, leaning up and pointing down at the white wetness on his dick and Harry's  shirt.

"You came, fuck. It. It was good, right? You looked so good," Harry speaks. He sounds so much lower than normal and Louis thinks he likes it. It makes him feel bubbly and special.

"It felt very good," Louis assures. "Can we do that again? Forever?"

Harry giggles, his dorky personality shining through his intense, focused one, and then he wipes his hand down on the bed sheets beside them. "In a little while, okay? We have to give you a rest and I really want to just hold you."

Louis can't decline that. So they roll onto their sides and Harry holds Louis from behind, gently rubbing his belly and thighs and hips until Louis is lulled into a happy, lovely sleep.

 

A deep roll of thunder jostles Louis awake.

He can feel Harry warm and heavy behind him and the leg tossed over his hip, but even that doesn't relax the anxiety in his chest. He knows the lighting storm is coming because of Dad.

"Harry, I have to go home," he whispers out into the humid air.

Harry is evidently awake because he sighs and nuzzles his face into the crook of Louis neck and squeezes around Louis' waist tighter. "I don't want you to. Can you not stay a while longer?"

Another bright lightning bolt strikes down, causing an even louder roll of thunder. Rain is pouring down as well, hitting the large window across the room. The curtains are shut closed but Louis knows it looks absolutely dreadful outside, all because of him.

"My dad is angry. I have to get home before he causes a bloody tsunami."

"If he destroys my house, I reckon I'll _have_ to come live with you, so let's just cuddle a while longer." Harry's hand slides up Louis' chest and then loosely curls around his neck; Louis assumes he's looking for the gils that aren't there. He misses them too.

"I'll come back," he promises. "Even if I'm grounded or locked away, I'll come. You just wait for me." He sits up and takes Harry's face in his hands and presses their lips together. They're both sleep-soft and warm and it's such a sweet feeling, to be so close and to breathe together with nothing but growling thunder and the white noise of rain batting down around them. "Nothing can keep us apart."

Harry twists their fingers together. "I'll be here. I lo - I will. Go." Louis isn't surprised at Harry's forcefulness; he seems to not enjoy goodbyes. Even when Louis and Harry had separated for what they thought was forever, Harry had been so passionate and desperate and then he'd turned right around and swam without looking back. Louis understands why.

After a startlingly loud crash of thunder Louis wipes away the wetness on his cheeks and dresses in a long shirt of Harry's to walk down to the beach. The wetness seeps into his skin - he can feel it and panics when he feels the skin on his neck tearing open into gils. Before he gets stranded on land as a mermaid, he breaks into a messy, awkward run and crashes onto the bed of sand.

The second he's submerged in the water his whole body shudders and tingles and his muscles seize - his legs snap together and through the black water Louis watches as his tail grows back. It's completely covered in sparkle scales.

The time isn't now for fawning over his beautiful tail or even revelling in the fact that his _body_ realizes he loves Harry; he has to get back to his kingdom before Dad tries to make a water tornado and shred it through Harry's town.

He takes a deep breath of water and flexes his tail to make sure it's all good and well, and then swims as fast as his tail can take him, back to his kingdom.

 

\--

 

Everyone stares and points as Louis swims into the palace center. It seems all fish and merpeople have been called to an emergency assembly and they all look nervous and afraid - that is, until someone shouts, "There's Prince Louis!"

Everyone starts to speak at once, a conglomeration of languages raging from turtle to dolphin to whale, until the heavy and thunderous thud of Dad's trident hitting the palace floor rings out and renders everyone speechless.

"Louis, come out. Come right now or I swear you will never leave your room again," Dad shouts.

Louis degradedly swims to the center of the large room and everyone begins to whisper in awe. Louis' sparkling scales are shining off of every surface in the room - fish's faces, Dad's trident, the full mirror roof. He knows it looks magnificent and wants nothing more than to go hide and admire himself, but Dad would banish him if he dared more an inch.

Dad even has a dropped jaw. "Louis, what has happened," he murmurs incredulously. His face shows no more traces of anger, however - he instead looks...fond. Understanding. "Have you found love, Louis?"

"Yes, Daddy. And I found it in a human. He lives near the shore and his name is Harry - the very boy you had me try to scare. He is beautiful and there's nothing I want more than him, I'll even give up my beautiful tail if I have to. Up there, love is in invisible, but you know it's there. Me and Harry know it's there." Louis hangs his head as he hears the sea creatures talk around them. He hears such things as _that dumb merman, falling in love with a land lover_ and _how could the prince ever love a human?_ Louis wants to cry.

Dad stays silent for a long while. "My son," he says suddenly, hushing everyone, "love is important. It is important we preserve it." He gestures down at his own sparkling tail and then to Mum's, who is weeping and brushing down her sparkling scales. "When I met your mother I got a sparkle scale instantly. A few creatures have told me you did too, Louis. I cannot stop you from whom you love so I won't. The issue though, Louis, is... Will he live down here? Or will I have to let you go?"

"I'm here!" a familiar, waterless voice comes from the back of the room. Harry.

Louis gasps and spins around in time to have Harry crash into him, muttering things like, "I couldn't wait," and, "I love you so much," and, "I couldn't be without you."

A collective _awww_ resonates through the water. It sounds from the squeaking of the dolphins and the peeping of the shrimp and the blooping of the great turtles - all together it sounds like happiness and warmth. Louis feels positively magical and with Harry, he is.

"You'll just abandon your life above?" Dad asks, eyebrow raised but his mouth smiling.

Harry squeaks at being spoken to and lifts his face from where it was hidden in the crook of Louis' neck. "We can, um. Take turns. Live down here for half a year and then back above. Does that, um, work?"

Dad booms with laughter and Louis giggles himself. "Whatever your young, lovesick souls desire," Dad nods. "Just make sure you get your hands on that potion."

The sea creatures are all dismissed but most stay to watch Harry and Louis hug and kiss and pet each other. Harry's tail is covered in sparkles, too, and together Louis reckons they're the most in love anyone has ever been in the history of anything.

And when Harry looks at him, lips spread into the most beautiful, beaming smile, Louis _knows_ that they are. 


End file.
